It was December of 2023 when I had first discovered a die cast model of a yellow 1969 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S fastback for sale on the shelf of a local estate sale shop. It was one of several large, 1:18-scale replicas on display, with all of them in boxes with ancient, day-glow orange price tags still stuck on them. At first glance, and unless it was going to be a ridiculous amount of money, the price didn’t really matter as I hadn’t lately seen any replicas of this generation of Barracuda, anywhere. It wasn’t that I didn’t think there were some Matchbox or Hot Wheels versions out there somewhere, but having already amassed a decent number of 1:24 scale models, this larger Barracuda was significantly more substantial and also more highly detailed than some cars in my collection. The price turned out to be much lower than I had originally anticipated, so that Barracuda went home with me and under my Christmas tree that night.
This 1:24 scale 1970 Chevy Nova SS by Maisto has served as inspiration while I work from home.
The Plymouth ended up being just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the size of the collection being liquidated. I went back to the store in early January of 2024 for a couple more models, and thinking I had by then gotten the rest of the “good ones”, I decided I was done… until another chance stop-in months later, where I had discovered that the proprietor had restocked the exact same shelf space with more die casts of the same scale! For a stretch of a couple of months last summer and before I would sit down to write the first draft of a new essay on Friday evening, I would first go to the store, check out the remaining merchandise, and take home a new model every week, which had often served as the inspiration for whatever subject car I had chosen to write about.
To make a long-ish story shorter, that first Barracuda (which would eventually be joined by two Ertl ’70 ‘Cudas from the same store) was the “gateway” to me amassing a small, non-running fantasy garage, examples of which I could rotate in and out of my home decor as I made periodic updates. For example, some of my white-colored and snow-effect decorations that I had put up for the December holidays included a white ’67 Mercury Cougar along with a ceramic, midcentury snowman on the TV stand in my living room. Once I had believed the supply of the deceased’s toys to have been sufficiently depleted, I turned my gaze to e-commerce and found a whole, other world of die casts vying for some of my attention and weekly “allowance” money.
This is different than what our Peter Wilding has skillfully done with building a desirable empire of hand-painted and painstakingly detailed vehicles over the course of decades. Within basically a twelve month period, I had come to acquire, in painted metal form, small versions of many of the cars I had wanted grow up to own. I now even have a red Renault Fuego Turbo in my possession, which I’m convinced will be the closest that I will ever come to owning one. All of this is to say that I strongly believe that the very same mania for actual vehicles can manifest itself in acquisition of models… which, for some, can then turn into desiring vehicles that look like scale models. Have I lost you? I apologize.
This 2011 Chevy HHR spotted at the end of last year illustrates the idea I’m trying to present. It’s an actual, life-scale vehicle that’s painted and presented to look like a toy… that was modeled after the actual, life-scale vehicle. It’s like a reflection of a reflection, and I love it for that reason – certainly in concept even if not 100% in execution. My slight reservation of points has nothing to do with its color scheme, wheels, or anything like that. It’s just that, and as I had written about last year, I’m #TeamPTCruiser, with that Chrysler being the first retro-styled five-door wagon of its kind. I suppose it’s not like I’m being forced to choose one over the other. After all, Bryan Nesbitt was the same chief stylist responsible for the overall look of both vehicles. I can like the Chrysler and the Chevrolet.
This HHR, according to a license plate search, was built in Ramoz Arizpe, Mexico. It’s a 2011, which was the last of this model’s six-year run, with approximately 37,000 sold for the calendar year. Just under 527,000 HHRs were sold in the U.S., all-up. It’s powered by 2.2 liter Ecotec LE8 engine with 155 horsepower. Weighing in at around 3,200 pounds to start, fuel economy was estimated by the EPA at 22 city / 32 highway / 26 combined.
These figures look a lot like the EPA ratings for my old, 2.3L four cylinder-equipped Mustang, which was about six hundred pounds lighter, but also took a ridiculous amount of time to get to sixty miles per hour (around fourteen seconds), even on good days when my shifting the five-speed stick was on point. Multiple sources I could find online showed that the HHR with this base engine could get to sixty from rest in the mid-eight second range. For any economy oriented vehicle, the main concern with acceleration is being able to safely keep pace with traffic, and I would have been very happy with these numbers in a vehicle like this.
Getting back to the the lilac-and-white two-tone paint treatment of our subject car, it looks a lot like one of the die cast toys for sale in the aisle of my local chain drug store, even without wheels that are either too large or overly shiny. Part of what I have traditionally looked for in building my collection is good value, meaning that if the price was right, I could overlook a few details that might be slightly off and still find great enjoyment in my new acquisition. There are many perfect models out there that cost hundreds of dollars, but those aren’t for me.
By the same token, one of this HHR’s prior owners could have taken the cost of its fun, aftermarket paint job and applied it to their principal investment in a different vehicle with some dynamically superior qualities, but he or she had their reasons for going this route, and I respect that choice. Few material objects have elicited the kind of joy that unwrapping a new toy car had made me experience when I was a kid. I’m betting that at least one owner of this HHR has known the feeling that I’m talking about.
Wrigleyville, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, December 29, 2024.
I have scrupulously avoided buying scale model cars – mainly to guard against my tendency to keep buying more of something. It is easier to stop at zero than at 3 or 7 or 92. Though they are certainly cheaper than real ones.
“…3 or 7 or 92” LOL – funny, but absolutely true. I bought a 40th Anniversary Corvette diecast about a month ago and openly asked the proprietor at the store when collecting die cast cars becomes an addiction. No joke. There are a few Reddit threads about this topic.
I honestly think I’m okay and space will dictate when I need to slow down or just stop, much like with my music collection. I admired my red Corvair convertible on the shelf just this morning. It brought / brings me joy, and I still consider that a no-regrets win.
After my model car building phase ended, exacerbated by the fact that I didn’t really have space for them, I stored them away/sold/traded some for a real car. Currently, I only have two scale models, a copy of the Challenger that I own, and a matching “retro” Challenger that were given to me as a present. I’ve resisted the compulsion to acquire any more models, due to the fact that I’m economical (cheap!) and the perfection that I desire costs more than I’m willing to spend! LOL!! 🙂
That’s cool. Honestly, if one were to have any singular die cast (or two), one could do much worse than for it to be of a beloved car that one owns or has owned.
I prefer my die cast cars to the real ones, they don’t turn into piles of rust or disappear in clouds of smoke or steam.
I put a stop to buying last time I moved, but now I’ve bought another cupboard…
It would be nice to find a physical shop to buy from as well as on line.
Keep on collecting.
I also miss hobby shops! I was thinking about finding one in Chicago but decided against it only because who knows what I might bring home with me that day.
Your opening sentence reminds me of how happy I am to have that red Fuego Turbo in my possession. It absolutely will not break down, and I just love its looks and vibe. No disappointments.
Perhaps the best one still going isn’t too far from Chicago: https://motorsportcollector.com
It’s good to know that you too draw inspiration from your desktop fleet. I have just a few of the larger scale die cast models, but I’ve tried very hard to stick to the 1:64 scale models since I have run out of room to fully display those; it’d be much worse if I had many larger models. I could see the whole situation for me getting quickly, further, out of control.
Your whole premise for this article brings up something I’ve kind of struggled with (yes, first world problems for sure) my whole life, and that is the desire to only own die cast models that are in fact actually models and not fantasy creations by the Hot Wheels designers (and sadly, now that they’re owned by the same corporation, BOTH the Hot Wheels and Matchbox designers). Not that I’ve never slipped up and as a kid acquired some iconic 1:64 vehicles such as TwinMill or Splittin’ Image, or more recently some very weird Hot Wheels Volvo 245 derivatives, but I have always tried to fill my fantasy garage with tiny little representations of real cars.
Which is why the current trend to forego actual scale with Matchbox/Hot Wheels and instead just go with “it needs to be 3″ long” drives me nuts. The fact that I can’t park a model MINI Cooper S or 2002 alongside a 3 series Touring and have them the correct relative size (yes, they’re all about 3″ long…) is maddening. Again, I probably should find other things to worry about.
I like the color scheme of the HHR you found. But that’s about it. I wound up with one of these (in a factory color) once and it was a miserable miserable car. I don’t remember the performance so much but just that it was horribly plastic-y and an ergonomically awful experience. It’s interesting that it was designed by the same person who designed the PT Cruiser as I had the same experience with the PT Cruiser. I guess one is either a fan, or not, of these.
Constant scale models do enable comparison shots like this which would be difficult to do with real vehicles unless you have your own scaffolding tower handy:
Great point, Bernard. I’m trying to identify these models… Is the one on top an Opel Vectra five-door from the early ’90s? I’m lost as to the lower one. A late-’60s Chrysler product?
Yes, top one is the Vauxhall Cavalier Mk3/Opel Vectra A hatchback 1988-92, while the bottom one is the Vauxhall Victor FD 1969-72 (styled by Leo Pruneau, who soon after moved to Holden).
The view demonstrates how much the ‘aero’ design rounded the extremities.
Both 1:76 scale scratchbuilds I did some years back.
I didn’t know about the FD designer moving to Holden, but now you’ve said it I can see it. Incidentally the FD is my favourite Victor and the HQ my favourite Holden.
Jeff, to be clear, I absolutely do not have the space to display all of my acquisitions at the same time – hence my rotation in and out of designated spaces. That seems to be working well for me, much like I also rotate LPs (and covers) in and out of frames in my walls. Color scheme and era can be the unifying theme in some cases.
I also want models of real cars, or in the case of a silver 1:24 Plymouth Pronto Spyder (why, oh why didn’t this make production?) I got last year, of a running, driving prototype.
I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in one of these HHRs, but I like the idea of a tall “Cobalt wagon” being styled with flair and fun. At least on the outside.
My diecast collecting, currently dormant, went through many phases. Childhood, when they were toys to be (often roughly) played with and occasionally even destroyed. A ‘tween period, when I scrimped and saved for a handful 1/43rd scale Italian exotica. Then a long gap until the decade or so straddling Y2K, when parenthood found me in the toy aisles, e-commerce provided new options, and overseas travel exposed me to Japanese and Chinese diecast models that were hard to find in the US. Or at least much cheaper, and irresistible when staring at my from a convenience store display. I still have many, though almost all are tucked away in the basement. My Tekno Volvo 122S wagon is on top of a cabinet in my bedroom closet so I can admire it every time I grab some clothes. It’s a dull beige, nothing like this HHR.
“In phases” seems to be a great description of what I (and I suspect many) went through when it comes to collecting die cast models. I think about the abuse to which I had subjected many of my Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars when I was playing with them as a kid. (That poor Dodge Mirada stocker.). But I guess that was sort of the point, though, right? For a kid to enjoy them and use them at that stage of life.
I liked it about 20 years ago when a sibling had a young son / my nephew, where it gave me an “excuse” to buy him toy cars – and a few for myself. He’s in his 20s now. Time has flown.
Another great topic, and find Joseph. Thank you!
Like you, I find inspiration in scale models. I frequently tell Peter as well, how much I appreciate his modelling talents, and his collection. They do inspire others. I am impressed you have been able to find some very special specific models, that are particularly enjoyable for you. Like the Fuego. All the pleasure of the diversion of savouring beautiful styling. Without, the high cost of owning a genuine collectible car.
I collected hundreds of 1:64 scale die casts for years. Since then, gave most of them to my nephew. I commend both Hot Wheels and Matchbox, for always maintaining high quality, and variety, in their collections.
Always saw the HHR as a great means to promote a small business, from a novelty marketing point of view. Like the PT Cruiser, and New Beetle, It made a great palette for bold brand and colour schemes. Unique, graphic styling helped of course. Found the HHR gimmicky in a way, but I like that Chevrolet brought such a unique concept to market.
Thanks again Joe. I am on-going impressed by your amazing consistency writing great stories and topics every week here. I’m glad, when some Tuesdays, I have time to say thanks!
Thank you so much, Daniel! And as far as I’m concerned, Peter Wilding is a scale model building legend. I like the idea of the HHR (and especially the label version) being, like you said, a handy vehicle for a small business, much like a Vega Panel Express might have been in the early ’70s.
Two things. First the toy cars. I too was a collector and even got to the point where I was in a program where I would get a new (very fancy) detailed model from the Franklin Mint. This was back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Don’t take me wrong. These “toy” cars were not the kind you play with and they were (are) very detailed with real leather on the seats and all. After almost two years of this collecting, I saw the light and canceled my subscription. After all, they were now over $100 per car. I may have around 15 of them in total and they are all stashed away in a dark, dry and safe place. haha. So much for enjoying them. But the ones I really like the most were the factory promotional cars. Not sure about Chrysler, but Ford Motor Co and GM both had them and you got them through the dealer parts department. This was in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I’m not sure when they stopped doing them, but I love these things. They are all plastic and very well made with great detail. From memory, I have numerous Cadillac’s, a Chevette, Regal and Reatta. The best part of those? Some dealers would give a new car buyer one of these promotional cars to match their new car.
Onto the HHR. Admittedly, I’m a GM guy. However, I have never liked the HHR’s and found them to be cheaply made. It didn’t seem to matter which model, they all seamed cheap to me and I found the interiors to be lacking in many ways. For me, as much as many want to deem the diesel or Cimarron or other similar vehicles as deadly sins, it would be the HHR and Hummers at the top of the pile.
I love the dealer promo cars! My first such purchase was a yellow 1979 Chevrolet Monza 2+2 I bought maybe five years ago. In some cases, and especially for the H-body Monza, there are no die cast models for sale. Believe me, I’ve looked. I bought a dealer promo ’88 Chevy Beretta for a friend this last Christmas who has an epic, true story about hers having broken down while loaded with her possessions and on her way back from college. Lauren loved it, and that made me very happy.
Another dealer promo I had my eye on was of a ’77 Plymouth Volaré in Spitfire Orange with the “Road Runner” stickers included. I almost made the purchase, but showed restraint. I love a bargain, so I keep my eyes peeled for them.
Joseph: How cool. If I’m not mistaken, you are near the Chicago area correct? Not far from where I grew up (Galena). Many years ago, I found a guy in the Chicago area who had a large (and I mean LARGE) collection of promo cars. It’s been so many years ago that I don’t even know how I found him. Anyhow, he worked for a GM dealer parts department for many years and he started collecting them and would often buy multiples of each model every year. When I went in to look at and buy some, I was amazed at the size. His basement was literally a shrine/museum like place and this guy had them all. He also had the original boxes which he explained to me were worth more (in perfect condition) than the promo cars themselves! Of course this would be due to the fact that most people didn’t see these promo cars as anything but a plastic toy and they would rip the box apart and throw it away. I was overwhelmed with this collection to say the least, but boy was it fun. I think I made a deal for a box of cars and he gave me a slight discount. At that time I had a 1967 Cadillac Coupe Deville, so I had to get one of those promo cars. I picked up a couple 1977 Caddy’s, the Chevette and a few more that I don’t even remember. All with the boxes and they are now in storage sadly. What great memories.
Dan, that sounds amazing. I would have been like Fred Sanford in that basement, clutching my chest in disbelief at seeing all those boxes of dealer promo cars!
Never saw one of thses in the ‘two color”, paint job. Looks good. I remember how cramped, tight, these felt on the inside.
Been in two.One , with the black inside, seemed dark in the daytime.
I also like the two-tone paint and choice of colors on this example. I don’t recall ever having ridden in one of these HHRs (not even as a rideshare), so I can’t comment on how the interior seemed. Looking at one in profile, it seems to have thicker pillars around the windows which might contribute to the feeling of being darker inside.
First, I’d like to say I miss two tone cars. I like the look in most cases. I would normally never give an HHR a second glance, but this one is cool. I really like the color choice too.
Next, onto the subject of die cast models. I built models when I was a kid. I mostly built planes, but a few cars and even a sailing ship at one point. And then there were the model rockets, but I digress as usual. Like most everyone here, I had Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, and even a few slot cars. And of course there were the trains, but there I go digressing again….
Enter adulthood. I’ve never really been bitten by the larger diecast model bug. My Dad has a couple… a ’56 Chevy and a ’57 Chevy too. But one day, I was in Walgreens, and the local Walgreens near me always has a display of diecast cars. There, on the display, was a 2007 Mustang, all black, with a gray interior. I carried that thing around the store hemming and hawing about whether to get it. I was in my fifties at the time and thought to myself, ‘Why the heck am I buying a toy at this age?!’ – I couldn’t NOT buy it. It was the closest diecast I had seen to the very car that was out in the parking lot waiting for me.
I am so glad that I did make the purchase. The next time I saw an S-197 in that drug store’s display, the car was blue. Then there was a yellow one. I never saw a black one again, and after these, the next S-197 was a 2014 model. I think a local guy makes these, but I am not really sure. For all I know, Walgreens just gets them from somewhere.
Pictured below is the Mustang, and although it’s a GT and has the Torque Thrust knockoffs popular in that year, it was close enough to my car to get it. Of course, now the interior doesn’t match mine anymore, as I had my seats redone in two tone charcoal and light gray a couple of years ago.
And the Civic? Yeah, my dealer sent me that shortly after I bought my car (that looks almost exactly like it). It’s actually a keychain with headlights that light up so you can see to put the key in the lock… ok… guys… cars have remote entry now. Still I much appreciated the gesture.
The real cars for reference (as though you’ve not seen them before 😉)…
Many cars looked great with two-tone paint, and I also miss the look when a car’s basic styling lent itself to that treatment. I have seen some two-tone paint jobs on cars where the styling was clearly not meant for it, like on certain Mustang IIs and Monte Carlos.
You absolutely positively made the correct decision to get the drug store Mustang! That’s way cool. And the red Civic to complete what’s in your actual driveway. Way to go!
Hey Joe, how do I respond to this? 🙂
I would echo JPC’s comment about stopping at 3 or 7 or 92! When I started building models, I never thought of how many I would have fifty-five years later! (A quantity best described as ‘x’, since even I don’t know how many there are. I keep losing count.)
But seriously Joseph, it sounds like you stumbled upon a gold mine at that shop. I have never seriously bought diecast models. Though they look appealing in the shop, there is the price (when new; you avoided that), and the fact that I can’t avoid changing things, whether by adding a bit of paint here and there or disassembling and redoing them. I do have a drawer full of smaller diecast models, mostly HO-scale older British cars built for model railway layouts – and they are HO scale, not a ‘fill the box’ scale. More about my works in two days, I believe.
The HHR is a weird beastie. It doesn’t have the ‘Wow!’ appeal of seeing a PT Cruiser for the first time, though it’s obviously trying to jump onto a similar bandwagon. I quite like the paint job on this (I’m assuming the white is original) as an attempt at breaking up a rather static and borderline-uninspired shape. Near-vertical ‘fender’ lines, thick pillars, curved window corners, no front-to-rear ‘through’ lines; there’s no dynamism about it, it just sits there. If it was mud-coloured it could almost be an adobe house. Except an adobe house would crumble, not dent, when hit. Lilac and white paint lessens that illusion of course, and the sixties-style wheels give the impression of a hot-rodded fifties truck.
Peter, looking at your collection of scale models as featured in your posts sometimes seems to scratch a vicarious itch for me! Haha. And I like your comparison of the styling of the HHR to an adobe house. I don’t share your disdain for it’s styling, but “adobe house” (in medium brown) would totally fit. Amazing.
That yellow Barracuda fastback is very, very close to the one still sitting in its box in my closet. Beautiful color, beautiful car. Plymouth lives on!
I know some Boomers who’s homes are tightly packed with model cars .
I like this HHR, sad that apparently they’re not well regarded .
-Nate
Ours isn’t packed but that’s only because all 350+ are in cabinets in the man cave!
I sold all my large scale model cars, and managed to go cold turkey on not buying more.
I started collecting vintage Lesney Matchbox from the start in 1953 to the early 70s, thinking this would be self limiting once I had them all, yep that really worked out well, not being aware of how many there actually are, oh well at least they don’t take up much room.
But then there are the King Size trucks and cars, … it never ends.
Speaking of sized to fit the box, the best or worst example of this is the GM Greyhound Scenicruiser by Matchbox, to make sure it fit the standard Match Box they had one less side window, to make it shorter, oh well I suppose most kids didn’t notice.
Congrats on going cold turkey. Yeah, there always seems to be more ways to expand one’s collection of whatever it is one collects. Where expansion of my music collection is concerned, I’m at the point now where I’ve been proactive about dusting off older acquisitions and enjoying them all over again. I suspect this is what I will do with my large die casts. Honestly, there aren’t that many more cars (and trucks) I had drooled over that I don’t have representation of here at home.